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Jack Black
| birth_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S. | occupation = Actor, comedian, singer, musician, producer | years_active = 1982–present | spouse = Tanya Haden (2006-present) | children = 2 }} Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and producer. His acting career has been extensive, starring primarily in comedy films. He is best known for his roles in High Fidelity, Shallow Hal, School of Rock, King Kong, Nacho Libre, Tropic Thunder, The Holiday, Bernie and the Kung Fu Panda films. Black is considered a member of the so-called Frat Pack, a loose grouping of comic actors who have appeared together from an early age in various Hollywood films. He has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. He is the lead vocalist of the comedic rock group Tenacious D, which he formed in 1994 with friend Kyle Gass. Acting career Early roles Black first acted in a television commercial at age 13 for the video game Pitfall!. Black's adult career began with acting on prime time television. He played roles on shows including Life Goes On, Northern Exposure, Mr. Show, Picket Fences, The Golden Palace and The X-Files. Black appeared in the unaired TV pilot Heat Vision and Jack, directed by Ben Stiller, in which he played an ex-astronaut pursued by actor Ron Silver. He was accompanied by his friend who had merged with a motorcycle, voiced by Owen Wilson. Black later took on small roles in Airborne (1993), Demolition Man, Waterworld, The Fan, The Cable Guy, Mars Attacks!, Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking, The Jackal, Enemy of the State, and others. He had a small role in True Romance as a security guard, but the scene was deleted. Leading roles In 2000, Black appeared in High Fidelity as a wild employee in John Cusack's record store, a role he considers his breakout. He soon gained leading roles in films such as Shallow Hal, Nacho Libre, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Year One, and Gulliver's Travels. He received particular praise for his starring role in the well-received School of Rock, earning critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Musical Or Comedy. He starred in one of his few dramatic roles as the obsessed filmmaker Carl Denham in Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong, a performance he based on Orson Welles. He voiced the title role in Kung Fu Panda, which grossed $20.3 million on its opening day, June 6, 2008, and Kung Fu Panda 2; this is his favorite role and he praises the tutoring of co-star and two-time Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman. His next film, The Big Year, a competitive birdwatching comedy co-starring Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and JoBeth Williams, was released in October 2011. The media classifies Black as one of the Frat Pack, a group of comedy actors who frequently work together. It includes Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Steve Carell. Jack garnered a second Golden Globe Award nomination, this time in the category Best Actor in a Comedy, for his 2011 starring role in Richard Linklater's black comedy Bernie, as real-life murderer Bernie Tiede, a funeral director in a small East Texas town, who befriends and eventually murders a rich widow, played by Shirley MacLaine. Black's subdued portrayal, authentic East Texas accent and musical talent – he sings several gospel hymns as well as "Seventy-six Trombones" — had Roger Ebert describing Black's work as "one of the performances of the year." Filmography |- | rowspan="2"|2017 | The Polka King | Jan Lewan | Also producer |- | Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon (Bethany Walker) | Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team (with Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan and Nick Jonas) |- | rowspan="3"|2018 | Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot | Dexter | |- | The House with a Clock in Its Walls | Jonathan Barnavelt | |- | Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween | R.L Stine | |- | 2019 | Unexpected Race | Sheriff | Post-production |} Category:1969 births Category:20th-century American male actors Category:21st-century American male actors Category:American male comedians Category:American male film actors Category:American male voice actors Category:American male television actors Category:American television writers Category:Jewish American male actors Category:Jewish comedians Category:Living people Category:Male actors from Santa Monica, California Category:Writers from Santa Monica, California Category:American atheists Category:Jewish American actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish atheists Category:1960s births